A mandibular repositioning device (MRD) operates to position a mandible of a user in such a way as to help prevent snoring and sleep apnea in the user. Typically, the MRD works to position the mandible, the lower jaw bone, in a position that is forward from a neutral mandible position. As a result, the MRD helps eliminate snoring and sleep apnea.
Many MRDs allow the amount of mandibular advancement to be adjusted or titrated. However, most titration mechanisms have disadvantages. For example, one such mechanism utilizes elastic bands to apply pressure to keep the lower component of the MRD in a forward position. Such devices may provide different degrees of mandibular advancement through the selection of elastic bands from a variety of such bands of various different lengths. Therefore the ability to titrate such a device is limited by the variety of available elastic bands and the fitting process may require the user to try a number of different sets of elastic bands before finding one that most closely matches the desired degree of mandibular advancement. These bands also wear out and must be replaced periodically.
Another titration mechanism keeps the mandible in a forward position by use of a bracket. The bracket keeps the mandible in the forward position more consistently than an elastic band MRD, but is more expensive to manufacture. While devices utilizing this kind of mechanism allow any degree of mandibular advancement, the titration process may also require a trial-and-error process that may be quite time-consuming.
What is needed is an efficient, reliable MRD that holds a forward position of a mandible and is more easily adjustable by the user.